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I loved this. Went through it quickly but took a while to get 6d 19a 19d and 23 a which I’d my COD. Very clever! 😊

Hi druh,
Don’t be discouraged, it does take time to get the hang of cryptics. People here will always help.
If you’re finding it difficult to see how to read clues, maybe take a look at https://cryptics.fandom.com/wiki/Cryptipedia - this has lists of anagram indicators, abbreviations etc. This helped me when I was getting started, hope it helps you too.

I thought this was fairly straight forward. Yes, there were some (archaic?) phrases that I don’t use (e.g. 21, 5) but I don’t have a problem with that as the clueing was obvious and they made sense…and even though I’m nearly 60 I do send hugs and kisses to my kids in the 14 down form! Anyone who regularly visits IKEA should also be familiar with the serving of salmon. Very tasty.

Until today, if someone sent me a message with abbreviations for “hug, kiss, hug” I’d have thought that they were mentioning a stock cube!
P.s. the captchas on this site have become very annoying!

Is 10a ACCENTUATE?

Hi druh6sm, yes, but we would normally not see actual answers written into the forum. I think a good tip is to look at the correct solution (next week in the paper?) And work backwards to the clues to see how they were devised.

I went on a beginners course when I started to do cryptic crosswords and it was really useful. Or there are some good books too. Other than that it is just practise and more practise though there will always be some setters who are on your wavelength and others who always seem to leave you stumped. But the main thing is to have fun and don’t be too hard on yourself. That feeling of satisfaction when you finish and can parse all the answers is hard to beat.
I really enjoyed this one I like lots of anagrams.

druh6sm,

We generally avoid spoilers / explicit answers here. The AnswerBank forum seems to lack such qualms, if you're really impatient about a particular solution.

phil1000, "Peter" = (first word of 20) is quite common in crosswords, something to add to the toolbox.

Thanks to Everyman. I found this much easier than the last few (3-4?), which were rather tough, but fun. Struggled with 14 and 19a, otherwise quick.

Hi Geeker. I only do Everyman, having given up on the Prize and daily Grauniad crosswords in the days of Aracauria, who always left me seething (not a popular opinion, I know). As mentioned, I don't recall ever seeing this use of Peter before, so maybe it's one that the 'new' setter has kept up his sleeve until now, and the previous ones never deployed?

What’s the definition of 21, please.